Course Description and Outcome Form
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
School of Engineering and Computer Science
Brac University
- Course General Information:
Course Code: | CSE250 |
Course Title: | Circuits and Electronics |
Credit Hours (Theory+Lab): | 3 + 0 |
Contact Hours (Theory+Lab): | 3 + 3 |
Category: | Program Core |
Type: | Required, Engineering, Lecture + Laboratory |
Prerequisites: | PHY112: Principles of Physics II |
- Course Catalog Description (Content):
Fundamental electrical concepts and measuring units of electrical charge, voltage, current, resistance, and power; Laws of electricity (Ohm's law, Kirchhoff's Current and Voltage law) and various methods of electrical circuit analysis (Nodal, Mesh); Introduction to basic electrical circuit elements; I-V characteristics; Circuit analysis in Direct current, First-order Transient and Alternating current mode, for various combinations of Resistive, Inductive and Capacitive networks; Phasor representation of sinusoidal quantities; Circuit theorems for linear circuits (Source Transformation, Superposition, Thevenin, Norton and Maximum Power Transfer). This course includes compulsory 3-hour laboratory work.
- Course Objective:
The objectives of this course are to:
- Introduce students to ideal linear electrical circuit components such as dependent and independent voltage and current sources, resistors, capacitors, and inductors, and their characteristic equations.
- Illustrate the I-V characteristics of any two-terminal devices and infer circuit equivalence.
- Define physical quantities related to electricity, such as voltage, current, and power, and introduce the passive sign convention for computing these quantities.
- Explain fundamental laws like Ohm’s law, and Kirchhoff’s voltage and current law, as well as important linear circuit theorems such as Thevenin’s and Norton’s theorem, maximum power transfer theorem, superposition principle, and source transformation.
- Familiarize students with several circuit-solving techniques aside from the circuit theorems, such as the voltage/current divider rule, series-parallel circuit equivalence, and nodal and mesh analysis, that take advantage of the fundamental laws and theorems of the linear circuit.
- Analyze first-order transient circuits with resistors, capacitors, and inductors in the time domain.
- Introduce phasors and analyze alternating current (AC) circuits constructed from sinusoidal sources, resistors, capacitors, and inductors in the phasor domain.
- Train students to build and analyze linear electrical circuits using resistors, capacitors, inductors, and independent/dependent sources to reinforce theoretical concepts and understand circuit behavior.
- Develop students’ ability to measure, verify, and troubleshoot linear circuit performance using standard laboratory instruments such as multimeters, oscilloscopes, and function generators, applying systematic experimental procedures.
- Enhance teamwork and technical communication skills by engaging students in collaborative laboratory work and structured documentation of experimental results.
- Course Outcomes (COs):
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to
Sl. | CO Description | Weightage (%) |
CO1 | Understand and Describe the foundational concepts of electricity, including relevant physical quantities and the governing laws that dictate its behavior, such as Kirchhoff's current and voltage law, Ohm's law, etc. | 10 |
CO2 | Describe linear circuit theorems, such as the superposition principle, source transformation, Thevenin and Norton's theorem, and maximum power transfer theorem, and demonstrate the ability to Apply them efficiently. | 30 |
CO3 | Analyze the behavior of analog electrical circuits constructed from networks of diverse linear elements by utilizing various tools, including nodal and mesh analysis, circuit equivalence, voltage and current divider rules, and phasor domain analysis. | 35 |
CO4 | Develop hands-on circuit-building and troubleshooting skills by collaborating in groups to perform lab tasks, utilizing laboratory equipment, such as oscilloscopes, function generators, and multimeters, to measure, verify, and troubleshoot analog circuits. | 7 |
CO5 | Collaborate effectively in a group in the laboratory, and Report their findings and insights clearly and concisely, using technical language and documentation standards. | 6 |
CO6 | Demonstrate individual competence in using laboratory equipment, such as oscilloscopes, function generators, and multimeters, to build, test, and verify analog circuits, as well as troubleshoot circuit problems. | 12 |
- Mapping of CO-PO-Taxonomy Domain & Level- Delivery-Assessment Tool:
Sl. | CO Description | POs | Bloom’s taxonomy domain/level | Delivery methods and activities | Assessment tools |
CO1 | Understand and Describe the foundational concepts of electricity, including relevant physical quantities and the governing laws that dictate its behavior, such as Kirchhoff's current and voltage law, and Ohm's law, etc. | PO1 | Cognitive / Understand, Apply | Lectures, Notes/Handouts, Simulation Demo | Quiz, Exam, Assignment |
CO2 | Describe linear circuit theorems, such as the superposition principle, source transformation, Thevenin and Norton's theorem, maximum power transfer theorem, and demonstrate the ability to Apply them efficiently. | PO1, PO2 | Cognitive / Understand, Apply, Analyze | Lectures, Notes/Handouts, Simulation Demo | Quiz, Exam, Assignment |
CO3 | Analyze the behavior of analog electrical circuits constructed from networks of diverse linear elements by utilizing various tools, including nodal and mesh analysis, circuit equivalence, voltage and current divider rules, and phasor domain analysis. | PO2 | Cognitive / Apply, Analyze | Lectures, Notes/Handouts, Simulation Demo | Quiz, Exam, Assignment |
CO4 | Develop hands-on circuit-building and troubleshooting skills by collaborating in groups to perform lab tasks, utilizing laboratory equipment, such as oscilloscopes, function generators, and multimeters, to measure, verify, and troubleshoot analog circuits. | PO3, PO9 | Cognitive / Apply, Analyze, Psychomotor / Precision, Manipulation | Lab Class | Lab Work |
CO5 | Collaborate effectively in a group in the laboratory, and Report their findings and insights clearly and concisely, using technical language and documentation standards. | PO10 | Cognitive / Apply, Analyze | Lab Class | Lab Report |
CO6 | Demonstrate individual competence in using laboratory equipment, such as oscilloscopes, function generators, and multimeters, to build, test, and verify analog circuits, as well as troubleshoot circuit problems. | PO3 | Cognitive / Apply, Analyze, Create | Lab Class | Lab Test |
- Course Materials:
- Text and Reference Books:
Sl. | Title | Author(s) | Publication Year | Edition | Publisher | ISBN |
1 | Fundamentals of Electric Circuits | Charles K. Alexander, Matthew N. O. Sadiku | 2019 | 6th | McGraw-Hill Education | 978-9353165505 |
2 | Introductory Circuit Analysis | Robert L. Boylestad | 2013 | 12th | Pearson Education India | 978-9332518612 |
3 | Foundations of Analog and Digital Electronic Circuits | Anant Agarwal, Jeffrey H. Lang | 2005 | 1st | Morgan Kaufmann Publishers | 978-1558607354 |
4 | Electric Circuits | James W. Nilsson Susan A. Riedel | 2010 | 9th | Pearson College Div | 978-0136114994 |
- Other materials (if any)
- Lecture Slides
- Practice Problems
- Video Lectures
- Lab hand-outs and manuals
- Everycircuit (simulation software)
- Tinkercad (simulation software)
- LTSPICE (simulation software)
G. Lesson Plan:
No | Topic | Week/Lecture# | Related CO (if any) |
1 | Illustrating the motivation behind taking this course. What are the real-life implications of these course materials? | Week 1/Lecture 1 | |
2 | Discuss basic circuit parameters like voltage, current, energy, and power definitions and units. Introducing passive sign convention, positive-negative voltage/current/power. Discuss different types of circuit elements (active, passive), and different types of sources (DC/AC, voltage/current, dependent/independent). Introducing circuit symbols. | Week 1/Lecture 2 | CO1 |
3 | Introducing basic electrical components: resistors, voltage sources, and current sources. I-V characteristics of basic circuit elements: Resistor, Voltage source, Current source, Open circuit, Short circuit. Discuss passive sign convention, finding the power of circuit elements by P=VI. | Week 2/Lecture 1 | CO1 |
4 | Ohm’s law, basic circuit terminologies, series and parallel configurations, series-parallel circuits using resistors, the idea of circuit equivalence, calculating equivalent resistance, and handling open and short circuits. | Week 2/Lecture 2 | CO3 |
5 | Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL), statements and applications, current divider rule (CDR), Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL), statements and applications, voltage divider rule (VDR), assumptions about current/voltage direction, legal and illegal connections violating KCL/KVL. | Week 3/Lecture 1 | CO1 |
6 | Equivalent voltage sources and current sources, series and parallel connections of sources, simplification techniques using equivalence, handling combinations of elements (resistors and voltage/current sources). | Week 3/Lecture 2 | CO3 |
Quiz 1 (Lecture 1-6) | |||
7 | Explaining the Nodal Analysis technique, using it to solve for current, voltage, and power in a given circuit (multiple examples). | Week 4/Lecture 2 | CO3 |
8 | Reintroducing dependent sources. Demonstrating Nodal Analysis with Dependent Sources. Problems with floating voltage sources, using Supernodes to solve such circuits. Explaining the Mesh Analysis technique, using it to solve for current, voltage, and power in a given circuit (multiple examples). | Week 5/Lecture 1 | CO3 |
9 | Demonstrating Mesh Analysis with dependent sources. Problems with common current sources, using Supermeshes to solve such circuits. | Week 5/Lecture 2 | CO3 |
10 | Linear circuit elements. Linearity of voltage, current in circuits, and non-linearity of power. Circuit theorem: Superposition theorem. Using the superposition theorem for solving DC circuits. Superposition Theorem for circuits with Dependent Sources. | Week 6/Lecture 1 | CO2 |
Quiz 2 (Lecture 7-10) | |||
Midterm (Lecture 1-10) | |||
11 | Revision of I–V characteristics of basic circuit elements and circuit equivalence, I–V characteristics of voltage sources in series with resistors and current sources in parallel with resistors, ideal and non-ideal sources, source transformation theorem, problem-solving applications. | Week 8/Lecture 1 | CO2 |
12 | I–V characteristics of any two-terminal linear circuits, inverse design (predicting circuit elements and calculating equivalent resistances from I–V graphs), understanding that multiple circuit configurations can produce the same I–V response, concept of circuit equivalency, problem-solving, deducing that every linear circuit has an equivalent version (Thevenin’s/Norton’s theorem). | Week 8/Lecture 2 | CO3 |
13 | Reintroduction to circuit linearity, circuit theorems with focus on Thevenin’s theorem, motivation and applications of Thevenin’s theorem for simplifying and analyzing circuits. | Week 9/Lecture 1 | CO2 |
14 | Using test voltage/current sources while deactivating sources to find Thevenin’s. Solving resistance matching problems for transferring maximum power. Norton’s theorem, the relation between Thevenin’s and Norton’s theorems. | Week 9/Lecture 2 | CO2 |
15 | Using Thevenin’s/Norton’s theorem for solving circuits. Maximum transferable power and conditions for it. | Week 10/Lecture 1 | CO2 |
Quiz 3 (Lecture 11-15) | |||
16 | Capacitors and Inductors, their component equations. The SI unit for measuring capacitance and inductance. Transient circuits, visualizing and analyzing transient circuits. | Week 11/Lecture 1 | CO1 |
17 | Response of transient circuit: first-order RC circuit, time constant. Analyzing and plotting the first-order transient circuit response. Finding the capacitor current from the capacitor voltage. | Week 11/Lecture 2 | CO3 |
18 | Response of transient circuit: first-order RL circuit, time constant. Analyzing and plotting the first-order transient circuit response. Finding inductor voltage from inductor current. | Week 12/Lecture 1 | CO3 |
19 | Complex number review. Alternating current: the importance of AC circuits. Visualizing the dynamics of an AC circuit, Amplitude, and RMS voltage/current, and finding them from a graph. | Week 12/Lecture 2 | CO1 |
20 | Introducing Impedance. Defining impedance for various elements, Phasor analysis of an AC circuit. Instantaneous voltage, current, and power. Applying the superposition theorem on AC circuits containing sources of different frequencies | Week 13/Lecture 1 | CO3 |
Quiz 4 (Lecture 16 - 20) | |||
Final Exam (Lecture 11 - 20) | |||
H. Lab Experiments & Probable Timeline:
No. | Experiment Name | Type | Week/Experiment No. | Related CO (if any) | ||||||||||
1 | Introduction to Laboratory Instruments (Part 1) | Hardware | Week 2 / Experiment 0 | CO4 | ||||||||||
2 | Introduction to Series and Parallel Circuits. | Hardware | Week 2 / Experiment 1 | CO4 | ||||||||||
3 | Verification of KVL and KCL. | Hardware | Week 3 / Experiment 2 | CO4 | ||||||||||
4 | Verification of the Superposition Principle. | Hardware | Week 3 / Experiment 3 | CO4 | ||||||||||
5 | Open practice for Lab Test | Hardware | Week 4 / Practice | |||||||||||
6 | Labtest 1 | Hardware | Week 5 / Exam | CO6 | ||||||||||
Midterm Week | ||||||||||||||
7 | Study of I-V Characteristics and Circuit Equivalence. | Hardware | Week 8 / Experiment 4 | CO4 | ||||||||||
8 | Verification of Thevenin’s Theorem and Maximum Power Transfer Theorem. | Hardware | Week 9 / Experiment 6 | CO4 | ||||||||||
9 | Study of Transient Behaviour of RC Circuit. | Hardware | Week 10 / Experiment 7 | CO4 | ||||||||||
10 | Open practice for Lab Test | Hardware | Week 11 / Practice | |||||||||||
11 | Labtest 2 | Hardware | Week 12 / Exam | CO6 | ||||||||||
Final Week | ||||||||||||||
I. Assessment Tools:
Theory:
Assessment Tools | Weightage (%) |
Attendance and Class Participation | 5 |
Quiz | 15 |
Assignment | 5 |
Midterm Examination | 25 |
Final Examination | 25 |
Total | 75% |
Lab:
Assessment Tools | Weightage (%) |
Lab Attendance | 2 |
Lab Performance | 5 |
Lab Report | 6 |
Lab Test | 12 |
Total | 25% |
J. CO Assessment Plan:
Assessment Tools | Course Outcomes | |||||
CO1 | CO2 | CO3 | CO4 | CO5 | CO6 | |
Quiz | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
Assignment | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
Midterm Examination | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
Lab Work | ✔ | |||||
Lab Report | ✔ | |||||
Lab Test | ✔ | |||||
Final Examination | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
K. CO Attainment Policy:
As per the course outcome attainment policy of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
L. Grading Policy:
As per the grading policy of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
M. Course Coordinators:
- Shadman Shahriar (shadman.shahriar@bracu.ac.bd)
Lecturer, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, BracU - Purbayan Das (purbayan.das@bracu.ac.bd)
Lecturer, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, BracU - Saiful Bari Iftu (saiful.bari@bracu.ac.bd)
Lecturer, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, BracU - Md. Fatin Ishraq Faruqui (md.fatin@bracu.ac.bd)
Lecturer, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, BracU
Department of CSE/SECS Course Description and Outcome Form Last Revision: Fall 2025 Page of